


Sleep Deprived

by Chairantula



Category: Sicario (Movies)
Genre: Comfort, Fluff, Gen, platonic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-07
Updated: 2019-05-07
Packaged: 2020-02-27 15:30:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18741862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chairantula/pseuds/Chairantula
Summary: A common problem with a solution in common. Letting loose is not the same as letting go. Alejandro and Isa find they need each other in a new way. (not a ship! Platonic!)





	Sleep Deprived

**Author's Note:**

> Just another reminder that this is not meant to be shippy or suggestive. I just really like the idea of Alejandro being a de facto father for Isa and Isa, a de facto daughter to Alejandro.

Isabel stretched on the couch and let out a soft moan. When she looked at the clock on the wall it read a quarter after two in the morning. She knew it was late anyway by how her head and body ached but she couldn’t sleep. Nearly every night since she’d been taken away from the bad men her sleep was riddled with nightmares that made her jolt awake screaming.   
It only got slightly better when she was sent to temporarily live with Alejandro where they determined she’d be the safest.   
As far as anyone knew, they were both dead so one ghost living with another would make things easier for a little while. Or so Matt said. 

She still woke up night after night crying out and dripping with sweat but Alejandro was never far away. She felt bad for waking him but she soon learned he hardly slept anyhow and was usually awake for most of the night. 

She sat up and sighed with frustration while she aimlessly flipped through the channels but everything worth watching had gone off air hours ago. She heard the floorboards creek behind her but she didn’t look because she already knew it was Alejandro. 

“You’re supposed to be in bed.” He rumbled.   
She looked over the back at the couch at him then she faced forward again. “I can’t sleep.” she reminded him tersely. 

He sank into the couch beside her, “I know. But staying up watching TV isn’t going to help.”

 

“Yes it does.” She mumbled poutily. “I can’t hear my thoughts over the people on the TV.”

She could feel his stare without looking. He couldn’t say anything because he left the TV in his room on or the radio. She could usually hear it through the wall even though he tried to keep it at a low volume.   
He reached over and pulled her closer and she was relieved to be able to lean against him. Isabel nestled into his side and buried her face against the soft spot between his shoulder and chest. He was warm and his cologne hadn’t worn off yet. Suddenly she felt much cozier and as if she might actually be able to fall asleep.   
“I know, mija.” he gave her shoulder a slight shake then a squeeze.   
He thought she’d gone quiet as some reality TV show flash across the screen but when he looked down at her, her eyelids were closed softly. He hated to have to wake her again now that she was finally resting but if she stayed in that position she would wake with a stiff neck.   
He inhaled softly then he turned in his cushion. Isabel stirred then she sat up drowsily. 

“Hey, I was sleeping.” she protested. 

“You’ll sleep better in your own bed.” Alejandro pointed out as he began to stand up. Isabel clung to him.

“No I won’t. I was comfortable here.” 

She looked up at him pleadingly. He knew right away that it wasn’t the couch that made her comfortable, it was him. He couldn’t remember the last time she fell asleep so quickly, but they’d both be sore if they stayed on the couch too long. 

“Ven, Isa. Apagar la tv.” He directed sternly as he stood. Isabel sighed then sat up and turned off the TV plunging the room into darkness. By the light of the lamps on the street they navigated to the hallway where Isabel exhaustedly shuffled towards her room. When she reached her door and went to open it Alejandro gently grasped her shoulder which made her look up. He cocked his head towards his bedroom door as he stood next to it. She didn’t protest and shuffled into the much darker room.   
He heard her slide onto the sheets and gather a pillow under her head apparently making herself right at home. His smell entered her nose from his linen making her instantly calm. Despite his previous deceit and how he and his people destroyed her previous way of life, he was the only one who seemed to care about what happened and tried to help her. Matt came around a little but she suspected it was mostly because Alejandro orchestrated it. She felt safe with him, even if his plan did fail on the bus. He tried at least. 

The bed sank beside her but she didn’t move. Her limbs became heavy and her mind was fogging with sleepiness.   
He slid the sheet over her without saying anything before he laid down facing the opposite to her. His closeness was comforting to her even in the pitch dark and silence. His soft snoring lulled her to sleep like it did through the walls. 

Her mind left the conscious world and soon she was off someplace else entirely. Her innocent dream quickly twisted into something darker and darker. Whatever was happening spiraled into chaos and terror. She didn’t understand what was going on except that she felt a deep fear and the need to escape whatever was causing it.

The nightmare closed in on her and everything became dark and unsteady, just swirling saturated colors and noise that felt like her mind was dying. 

 

Isabel jolted then she sat up with a panicked shout. Everything around her was still pitch dark which made her start to hyperventilate. She frantically searched for light or familiarity but found nothing. A pair of hands clasped her shoulders and she instinctively pulled away but Alejandro’s voice came through the dark and told her she was safe. 

It was pretty much routine for him to wake her or to show up as she leaped awake or for her to be awakened by his night terrors. She learned he preferred to be left alone but she was always grateful for his presence when she woke up from her frights. 

Isabel clung to him and squeezed her eyes shut. Her heart was still pounding in her chest and ears and her eyes prickled with tears.   
Alejandro whispered comforting things to her as she fought back her tears. They overflowed and ran down her cheeks and since everything was coming out anyway she turned and pressed her face into his chest to stifle her sobs. He held her quietly, her back shook under his palms. 

They sat for a while in the dark until her sobs stopped and his shirt was pretty wet from her crying. He didn’t seem to care. Instead of bothering about his shirt he brushed her hair back from her face and he gathered it at her neck. It was a bit longer since she’d arrived there. 

 

He was mostly quiet by nature anymore but he felt terrible for what they did to her. A part of the reason he slept so badly was the guilt on top of things that had happened before. The problem was caused by her father and his colleagues and she was just an innocent girl. They ruined her life to get at him and his people and he knew that too well. It wasn’t fair and life wasn’t fair but this he could at least try to fix a little. 

Alejandro urged her to lie back down so she could go back to sleep even though it was probably the last thing she wanted but she needed it. They both needed a decades worth of sleep at the very least.   
He laid beside her and she wasted no time in nestling against him with her face against his chest and one arm slung over his side. The other hand curled under her chin. 

 

He quietly and rhythmically stroked her hair and listened to her breathing. It soon became soft and slow which meant she was asleep again. He was awake for what felt like an hour or more mostly because he didn’t want to shift in his sleep and disturb her. 

She eventually stirred on her own and laid on her back for a second then on her side facing away. After she settled in again he fixed the sheet over her then closed his eyes knowing she’d be unaffected if he moved. 

The next time he woke up there was a faint light coming from around the black-out curtains so it was early morning. Isabel was still asleep next to him and looking much more peaceful.   
He rolled to look at the clock on his side table and it read four-twenty-six AM. There was still time to catch the tail end of a good night’s sleep so he rolled back and got comfortable again. 

“Thank you.” he heard her murmur. 

Alejandro opened his eyes to look at the back of Isabel’s head but she was quiet and she didn’t move so he shut his eyes again. The second time he woke up she was out of bed and he could hear her in the kitchen. As comfortable as he was, it was definitely time to get up and for once he felt rested enough to actually do it without little pain.   
He realized that he probably slept better than he had in too long. She had helped him as much as he had helped her. 

When he walked out of his room and reached the kitchen she was sticking bread in the toaster. She greeted him cheerily when she turned and saw him.   
“How’d you sleep.” He asked grumbly.   
Alejandro came up behind her to grab the coffee machine to start a pot and she turned and wrapped her arms around him which surprised him so much that he stood with one hand on the coffee machine for a second. He circled his arms around her. 

It felt like she was gonna say something but she didn’t and instead she let go and resumed making breakfast and he did too. The rest of their day went as usual though with a stronger understanding and bond between them both from then on.


End file.
